NL Central Notes: Russell, Cain, Freese, Moran

Addison Russell was made available in various Cubs trade talks over the offseason. a rival official told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. It should be noted that “made available” is quite different than openly shopping a player, as it isn’t any surprise that the Cubs at least explored the possibility of moving Russell or other notable names over the course of the winter. Theo Epstein even said during his end-of-season chat with reporters that his team would consider trading from areas of depth to address other needs, though it’s interesting to note that the Cubs have yet to make any trades this offseason, instead turning to free agency to add starting and relief pitching. Russell, for his part, considers Chicago’s position player depth to be “a beautiful thing,” and is pleased to still be in a Cubs uniform.

Here’s more from around the NL Central…

Lorenzo Cain was very intrigued by the idea of once again playing for the Brewers and they became his top choice in free agency, the outfielder tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In fact, “once I saw their interest was for real,” Cain said the Brewers became his only choice for contract talks. “Honestly, when we engaged Milwaukee, my focus was on them the entire time,” Cain said. “We told them we were only going to negotiate with them at the time. That’s the way I wanted it….we continued to push forward and found a way to get it done. I had a number I wanted to get to, and Milwaukee got to that number.” Cain ended up signing a five-year, $80MM contract with the Brew Crew, and though “some other teams jumped in toward the end” of negotiations, Cain “knew [Milwaukee] would be the most comfortable fit for me. I don’t need to be in a big city. I played for a small-market team in K.C. I get more joy out of beating big-market teams. It puts a smile on my face.”

David Freese had some frank opinions about the Pirates’ recent lack of success, telling reporters (including Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) that more “urgency” and “accountability” is needed within the Bucs’ clubhouse. “The last two years, we haven’t done as well as we could have because of our environment,” Freese said. “That’s what I think. I walk in every day, and it’s not in the air. The demand to win just hasn’t been in the air. That’s what you need. You can say all you want about how we’re going to win, this and that, but if you don’t walk in and you don’t feel it and you don’t see it in people’s eyes, it’s just not going to work.” The piece is well worth a full read for a different take on the Pirates’ struggles, as Bloom notes that Freese’s criticisms differed from recent comments made by Josh Harrison and Sean Rodriguez that indicated more frustration towards the front office.

Colin Moran suffered a concussion and a facial fracture after a fouling a ball into his left eye last July, and it is quite possible that the injury changed the course of the young infielder’s career. Moran was dealt to the Pirates last month as part of the Gerrit Cole trade, and Astros GM Jeff Luhnow tells Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Moran might still be an Astro today had he gotten a longer chance to perform last summer, rather than being sidelined just two games into a midseason call-up. “I think he would have hit .300, I think he would have hit for power,” Luhnow said. “We might not have traded him because we might have wanted to figure out a way to keep him on our club.” Interestingly, it’s also possible to speculate that a healthy and productive Moran would’ve been traded from Houston much sooner, as Moran was reportedly involved in the Astros’ talks with the Orioles about Zach Britton at the July trade deadline (though an injured Houston pitching prospect was the primary reason the Britton deal was scuttled).

Doesn’t have as good metrics though, career 3.43 FIP and 3.88 last year. Plus is never healthy. He’s a solid option but not a stud. Lester, Quintana and Darvish are all most definitely better than him too.

Didn’t he “regress” in 2017?
2016 was a terrific year for him, but an outlier

I guess because he doesn’t have the greatest K-rate, I don’t consider him a Stud………Solid Pitcher, just not Dominant Enough To Be A Stud….yet
– Less than 1K/IP
– More than 1 HR/game
– Highest WHIP in his short career
– BAA was 35 points higher in ’17 than ’16

Let’s see what he brings to the table in ’18. Right now, he looks like a solid #3-#4 SP

Who is going to hit 40 homeruns? Russell or Baez? You are right either way- both hit their 40th career homeruns last year, joining a pretty exclusive club. How many guys have hit 40 homeruns in a career. What is it- about 20% of all players who appear in Major Leagues?.

The Cubs front office did a nice job this offseason, especially by not having to deal from their major league roster or continue to deplete their farm system. But they still don’t appear to have a lights-out closer to match up with the Dodgers in the N.L. or the Yankees and Red Sox in the A.L. I also feel more confident with the closers in Cleveland and Houston than what the Cubs have on paper currently.

I like their added bullpen depth but to suggest that the Cubs did a “stellar job” in addressing their closer situation is a very hopeful comment…and this is coming from the ultimate optimist!

Maybe. And if they do Theo/Jed will get one. But they’re sitting on about 95 wins right now. They have a good chance at their 4th NLCS appearance in a row. Too bad they have all those guys 25 and under who have reached their ceiling.

I agree w/ ChiSox. I’m not sold on Morrow as a closer on a contending team. I realize they have other options, but none that are proven in the 9th other than Wilson, who struggled big time after the trade. I hope I’m wrong, but we’ll see.

At this point why would you trade Baez or Russell. We got our rotation without trading anyone. You ride or die with them. They are underrated because they play for the cubs. Everyone hates the cubs. I expect Russell to have a better offensive season and expect Baez to be the elite defender that he is.

Both Baez and russell would get a TOR starter in separate deals. Without question. They are top 5 players at 2nd and SS. Hell Baez is a top 3 at 2nd and top 5 at SS. He plays 3rd and 1st as well as Anyone as if it’s his natural position.

Actually, it will mean he pitched well. This should increase the probability of another championship provided the other players also do their part. Better managing from their genius in the dugout would also be helpful.

While the Cubs didn’t elect to trade away any of their positional depth for pitching this offseason that may change this summer. I don’t think any Cub fan would be surprised if, once again, the front office needs to address their pitching staff come July.

Last summer they landed starting pitcher Jose Quintana from the White Sox as the trade deadline approached. The year before they acquired two southpaws for the backend of their bullpen in setup man Mike Montgomery from the Mariners and closer Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees. Of course, the Cubs also added closer Wade Davis from the Royals last offseason in a trade for a depth piece in outfielder Jorge Soler.

While the rotation looks set for 2018 with the signing of Yu Darvish, the Cubs closer situation is less certain with their likely decision to rely on pitchers who have not held that role full time before, specifically with Brandon Morrow and perhaps Carl Edwards Jr. The Cubs did bring in a former experienced closer in Steve Cishek and also traded for Justin Wilson last summer from the Tigers who held that role in Detroit before being dealt. I’m not sure how confident the Cubs or their fans are with the prospect of any of these performing in that role come the 2018 postseason. We shall see.

Lorenzo Cain was never going to be signed by a big market team. He’s a mid tier free agent. The big market teams want the superstars, or have players in their system coming up. If anything they would sign a stop gap type. Guys like Cain are playing exactly where they should.

Baez will always strike out too much and not walk enough. And though he makes incredible plays in the field, he also is prone to making stupid decisions and errors at the worst times. And his power is nothing special – everyone hits 20 homers nowadays. Meanwhile, Russell is also a flawed hitter but he is a very solid shortstop and a smart player who will figure it out offensively. He’s capable of the same 20 homers too. That’s my 2 cents anyway.

Yeah, it’s quite short sighted, damn near ignorant, to even suggest that Happ, Almora, Schwarber, Contreras and Baez have ALL peaked this early in their respective careers. Same for Russell and many would even argue Bryant at his age. Considering most players don’t peak til their late 20’s, some even later, I think it would be highly unique for over a half dozen players on the same team no less to ALL peak in their early to mid 20s.

I’m more worried about a couple of them potentially going down to a significant injury. If most of them don’t reach their ceiling, so be it. They’re champs who can get the Cubs in the postseason as-is.

All of the Cubs position players have reached their true ceiling. They would have been wise to exploring trading any of them with the exception of Bryant. Rizzo is an incredibly solid but not spectacular player. If the Tigers wanted Rizzo so bad that they would trade Fulmer for him the Cubs should make the deal. Same holds true for the Mariners and James Paxton. Scwarber should be traded while he still has value. The only member of the Cubs that is untouchable is Hendricks. The guy is a stud who is the next Greg Maddux. He might be the most underrated player in baseball. It is very strange that the Cubs have the most overrated players in the game in Rizzo and Scwarber but also the most underrated player. The Cubs are a strange baseball franchise to say the least.

I actually agree with most of what Freese had to say and I’m glad he said it, but I have two questions…

1) Does he realize that creating a “winning culture” is LITERALLY the reason the Pirates signed HIM?

How does the front office of a team that doesn’t have a recent history of winning create a “winning culture”? Well, by getting veteran players who have played in winning cultures and having them become team leaders and sharing their knowledge and experience.

Guys like David Freese.

What has he been doing the past two seasons? Which leads to the second question…

2) Why now?

Was he unwilling to step on Cutch’s toes to be the leader he was paid to be? If so, why did he put Cutch’s feelings above the team? Did he only just now realize that he was signed to be a leader?

Or is he still ignoring that/unaware of that and is just saying this because they got Colin Moran to take his spot on most days and these comments are born of bitterness?

Hopefully, it’s the former and he’s ready to be part of the solution because he’s 100% correct. It’s not a very professional team. On multiple levels.

Cole and Cutch were never leaders even when they were good players. They whined and pouted. They came up small in big moments. Harrison is now following in that tradition by complaining that they traded his “friends”. This isn’t Little League. Josh has played out 3 years of his 4 year deal and only earned his paycheck in one of those years so far. He should focus on being a professional for the team that pays him.

Why did the 2016 and 2017 Pirates lose more than they won?

Despite the endless local vendetta against the front office it wasn’t because they didn’t add. It was because their core veterans massively under performed. Even if they spent $50 million, it wouldn’t have mattered because their key players all tanked.

Freese hit pretty much everyone in the organization with these comments, but most people see it through their own prism. Local sports radio morning show decided it was because he was mad about the front office not adding enough good players. But Freese actually referred to the players currently on the team as “animals” “studs” and a “few future superstars”. Not exactly a scathing critique of the roster.

He did hit the FO for “putting the cart before the horse with analytics”. This is a critique I’ve had. They have sabremetric based theories that they implement from the top down without considering how it will play out in the real world. For example, making Cutch play shallow in CF or batting him in the 2 hole. Should he have been more of a pro? Maybe but him bristling at being taken out of his comfort zone was very predictable and should have been anticipated and accounted for in that decision making. Both experiments failed badly.

Hopefully Freese comments are those of a leader whose ready to step up and not a bitter guy who is mad about being relegated to the bench trying to talk his way out of town. This will either sink their season before it begins (again) or galvanize a young team with a fresh start.

PS- Just a comment on the level of baseball discourse in Pittsburgh. The 6-10 PM guy who was talking about the Pirates and Freese comments for most of his show had on a handicapper who liked the Yankees 5 to 1 World Series odds because they “have the best rotation in the AL” with guys like “Severino, Sabathia, Tanaka…Jaime Garcia…Michael Pineda.”

Two problems here. First, obviously, two of those guys don’t pitch for the Yankees. Second, even if they did (no, especially if they did) the Yankees surely would NOT have the best rotation in the AL. At no point did the host correct him because he has no idea about baseball.

And this is who informs the opinion of Pirates fans. It’s a death spiral of ignorance.

I don’t think a good leader solves problems like this by publicly calling out your entire organization. Like you said, Freese should have been one of the guys expected to foster that “winning culture.” Instead of inspiring his teammates, however, it sounds like he’s just complaining.

Interestingly, the Pirates had three consecutive winning seasons right before Freese arrived, and it seemed to me that they had already built that winning culture on their own. What happened?

while I don’t really disagree with David in his comments he probably said things the wrong way. He may have just been trying to stir the pot to get players and coaches fired up for the season taking up the mantle of leader that /u/forwhomjoshbelltolls suggested…

Or maybe he was saying these things fishing for a trade with out actually saying so, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, but David is a Quality ball player one most teams would like to keep around, including Pittsburgh